Within the Week
by Kreev
Summary: After the war, Kankuro offers Shikamaru some advice.


It had been at least eleven months since Kankuro had been in the Leaf Village. At the end of the Fourth Shinobi War he quickly returned to his duties as the Kazekage's aid, working to restore the Sand Village. Of course, the allies suffered heavily on all sides. Families needed time to mourn their lost, and the economy needed time to rebound. All shinobi work had been just about halted for most of the year, leaving many people desperate for money. Fortunately, the bond that had been forged during the war lasted into times of peace; it had been a great many decades since the five villages worked so closely together, and they were well into recovery.

The five Kage, as well as their aids, worked nonstop. Kankuro found himself with less free-time now than he had during the war, although he appreciated the work. Gaara had arranged for him to meet with the Hokage's aid to exchange information which couldn't be shared in writing. He understood the importance of appearing in-person, but he still didn't understand why exactly he needed to be accompanied.

"I figured it would be good to visit the Leaf; what, I can't take a little vacation myself?" his sister chided.

"It's not a vacation," Kankuro said. "It's actually pretty important, otherwise we would have had Sai send one of his birds." He wrinkled a purple-lidded eye at the intensity of the overhead sun. It was the middle of June, and hot. At least he was spending some time in the Land of Fire, which, despite its name, was much cooler in June than the Land of Wind in December.

"Just be glad you have some company," Temari responded coolly.

"Why?" he muttered. "It's not like I needed it."

"Well it's not exactly like I wanted your company either, anyway!" Temari scoffed, strutting a few paces ahead.

Kankuro quirked a brow at her sudden change in attitude, then sang, "Oh, I get it now. This is because you'd rather be spending this time with your boyfriend, isn't it?"

His sister whipped around at that, replying furiously, "I can have a private life without you butting in, you know!"

"Well," he said, "it'll be a bit of a nuisance if you're trying to have your private life while Shikamaru and I are working- whoa!" Kankuro squinted through the blast of wind Temari thrust at him. She disappeared ahead of him, intent on clearing the awkward space between her and her brother.

Kankuro was just lucky she was still embarrassed about dating the guy; it would be another story once she was proud of it. He ignored that thought and rubbed a stray tear from the crook of his nose. Man, it was like dealing with a couple of love-struck middle-schoolers. At least, from the way his sister acted. Shikamaru maintained a much cooler attitude, that is, up until Kankuro asked flat out.

"Ah, what?" Shikamaru stuttered. The papers in his hand creased just slightly.

"Aw man, don't tell me you're all flustered over it too?" Kankuro sighed.

Sitting across from the Hokage's aid going over the case files of missing shinobi had been important, if tedious, business. Business which the leaders of the Leaf and Sand decided should not risk exposure, lest those responsible behind the disappearances find out about the investigation. So it was expected that Kankuro would maintain focus on that priority, but during a lull in the conversation, the question had just slipped out.

"No wonder she tagged along, she just wanted to see you."

"Really?"

"Oh, wow," Kankuro observed, "you're even blushing. I had no idea you could do that."

Shikamaru brought a hand unconsciously to his cheeks and felt them heat up. He cleared his throat and laughed it off. "It's nothing."

Kankuro's dead-eyed stare said all it needed to. "Well, if you ever need any advice, I guess I can do that for you."

"Advice? Like what?"

He shrugged. "You know, life advice, that sort of thing."

"Huh." Shikamaru's blush resided subtly. "I hadn't thought about all that." He stacked his paperwork together. "I guess I've been so busy since the end of the war that I haven't had time."

"Well, now isn't a bad time to start. It's been almost a year. You should take some time off every now and then," Kankuro advised. "At least it'll keep Temari busy," he muttered.

Shikamaru chuckled, standing from his desk. "Listen to you; all you've been doing since the end of the war is working, too. Would you be taking time off now for your personal life?"

Kankuro thought for a moment. "You have a point there. But I think Temari does too."

"Hn?"

"We should take a break. A small vacation. After we finish these files we could go to a bar."

Shikamaru scratched an ear. "I don't really go to bars much. But I guess we could get barbecue after we're done."

Kankuro grinned. "Alright, then it's a date."

They left that evening around nine o' clock, having spent the rest of the afternoon mulling over case file after case file. It wasn't just a matter of shinobi gone MIA during the war; there were those who disappeared months afterwards. This was reason enough to believe that foul play was involved. As of yet, however, they hadn't been able to uncover any clues, so there was nothing more they could do.

Shikamaru brought Kankuro to the restaurant he so frequented during his time as a teenager. Vague pangs of nostalgia throbbed within him as they entered. He didn't expect that Choji or Ino would have the free time to pick up barbecue often either. Everyone was getting busier.

Kankuro seemed to like the meat, so he ordered most of it. "So…" he began, "you're not gonna ask where she is?"

Shikamaru blushed a bit around a bite of food. "Ah…should I?"

"I don't know. I'm not the the one who's head-over-heels."

"Jeez…it's not that obvious, is it?"

Kankuro deadpanned, "It is." He sighed and leaned back against the booth, poking at the searing meat. "You and her both. It's like a couple of kids. Though she didn't show much interest in boys when we were actually kids."

"Well, I was pretty similar," Shikamaru revealed. "But I guess things change. People do."

Kankuro's gaze fell on his counterpart.

"When we were still genin, we used to come to this place all the time with our sensei. He had to have paid for so many meals, it's a wonder he didn't go broke." Shikamaru laughed distantly. "I don't know if I believe in fate or anything…but there must have been some reason that we saw him again on the battlefield." He distractedly flipped a few pieces of meat. "It was like we got a second chance to show him that his death wasn't in vain. We got to show him how we've changed." And then he paused for a moment, looking up as though coming back to the present from a far away place. "Ah, sorry, I got sentimental."

"Nothing wrong with that. I kind of know what you mean. I got to see a man who nearly killed me again." Kankuro reminisced casually. "He was one of the Reanimated. He ended up entrusting me with something important."

"What was it?"

"Love," Kankuro said.

Shikamaru accidentally let a vegetable slip from between his chopsticks. He picked it back up and chewed in it before asking, "I didn't know you were such a romantic."

Kankuro grinned. "I suppose a lot of people don't. But that's not really what I meant."

"Well, you seem to know about it. Love, I mean. Well, more than I do anyway."

"That's kind of funny coming from such a genius."

Shikamaru grimaced. "It's not really an area I'm familiar with, I guess."

Kankuro scratched his painted chin with the thick end of his chopsticks. "Shouldn't you two be getting married soon?"

Shikamaru affirmed.

"Seems you've got a ways to go before you're ready for that. I could give you advice, if you want."

Shikamaru seemed to be thinking that one over.

"You should take her somewhere nice. Actually, here isn't a bad spot. The food's good," Kankuro said around a mouthful.

"I don't know. Barbecue for a date?"

"Hey," he pointed his chopsticks crudely at Shikamaru. "You're the one who asked me."

"Technically, you're the one who offered."

Kankuro paused. "Okay, you're right about that. But I am the expert between us. So, you should probably focus on some basic romance first, before you get into the heavier stuff. Take her out on dates, that kind of thing."

"Basic romance, huh? It sounds like a lot of effort to go through right before marriage."

"Hey, you saw how much planning went into Naruto's and Hinata's wedding. Who's to say yours will be any different?"

Shikamaru reddened. "How can you be so sure it will go over smoothly?"

Kankuro gave a confused look. "What makes you ask that?"

"I managed to upset her pretty bad before Naruto's wedding."

"That's not exactly an accomplishment. What did you do?"

The Hokage's advisor gazed distractedly upwards. "To be honest, I'm still not quite sure. I was just trying to get her input on what I should get Naruto and Hinata for their wedding, and somehow she assumed it was for her the whole time."

Kankuro stared blankly. "Wow. You really don't know what you're doing. No wonder she was so pissed," he said, recalling her temper while the three siblings were in the Leaf Village before the wedding.

Shikamaru's face grew darker as he furrowed his brow. "You don't have to tell me that. So…you're saying I should take her on dates?"

"It'd be a start. My guess, by the way she was acting on the way here, is that she's long since forgiven you. I think it'll go over well."

Shikamaru seemed to appreciate that. "Thanks. Ah...will she be busy?"

Kankuro shrugged. "She'll be free the whole time she's here, however long that is. She didn't say if she'd be coming back to the Sand Village with me. But, and not to be a downer here, what about work?"

Shikamaru smiled subtly. "I think you were right. I should take more time off."

Kankuro slept well in his hotel room after parting ways with Shikamaru. He got up early, ate breakfast and applied his face paint, and headed to Shikamaru's office to get back to work. He saw Naruto in the hall on the way there.

"Hey, Kankuro," Naruto smiled. "How's it been?"

Kankuro held up his hand in a motionless wave. "Good. How about you? Jonin yet?"

Naruto grimaced, "It's a lot of work, but it's worth it." He outpaced the Sand ninja by about a meter, suggesting a rushed schedule.

Still, Kankuro couldn't resist. "How are you and Hinata? I haven't seen you two since the wedding."

"Oh, good! She mostly stays at home with the baby."

"Eh? She's had it already? Isn't that a little early?"

Naruto squinted. "No, not yet. It's still in her belly."

"Oh, aha. Right. So the honeymoon was a success."

Naruto smirked, chuckling through his nose. "You could say that."

Kankuro grinned, prodding, "I hear Shikamaru got you guys a trip to a pretty nice hotel and onsen? I guess he's got more talent in love than he thinks."

Naruto outright stopped in his tracks, just before the door to the Hokage's office. "Shikamaru? Yeah, it was really thoughtful, but isn't he just as hopeless as I was?"

"You think so?"

"He works too much." He pushed open the door and entered swiftly, immediately digging through a pile of papers on Kakashi's desk. "Don't get me wrong; I'll be grateful to have him as my assistant, but if he keeps working at the pace he does now, he'll never have a wife."

"It's funny you should mention that," Kankuro said smoothly. "He's actually out on a date with Temari right now."

Naruto paused. "A what? Now?"

"Oh, uh, don't worry – I told him I would take care of his end of the missing shinobi case today. And anyway I'll be here for another week at least; I don't know when Temari's going back."

Naruto scruffed his chin in a manner far too mature for his character up until now. "A date with Temari, huh..? I haven't seen them together since my own wedding. I honestly thought they were still fighting."

"Jeez," Kankuro felt sympathy for the Hokage's advisor. "Where have you been?"

"Studying," Naruto grumbled. "He hasn't talked about it since she last left. But, if he's skipping work to go on a date with her now, they must have made up pretty well."

Kankuro sniffed. "Well, I don't blame you. Becoming a Kage is tough." He turned and headed for the door. "I'll let you work. Let me know if there's anything you need."

"Thanks."

The Sand ninja left and headed for Shikamaru's office. There, he met his kouhai for the first time, and the two got to work, each on his own project. The list of missing shinobi seemed to be expanding with each passing day. It was a wonder there were still no leads. A case this large should have revealed some point of weakness, but Kankuro found none. He wondered if it really was wise to spend a week in the Leaf Village, leaving Gaara to handle the affairs of the Sand alone. He didn't question his Kazekage's instructions at the time, but as he delved further into the case, he began to rethink his decision.

"Hey," he said to Shikamaru's kouhai, whose name had already slipped his mind. "Can you get a word to someone for me?"

"Sure!" the young shinobi swiftly set out on Kankuro's request, leaving him alone for a few hours. Kankuro absently wondered about his coworker's activities.

Shikamaru absently wondered if he should have gone to work instead. With Temari, it was no joke, and Kankuro's advice evaded his memory. It was too late for giving up, though, and he knocked.

The soft sounds of footsteps sent adrenaline up his spine and out the tips of his hair, but he stood his ground.

Temari peeked through the doorway. "Yes?"

"Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to get breakfast? But I understand if you're busy!"

Even though he backtracked, Temari still found him miles braver than when he first approached her to ask for a date. At least he was honest. She feigned thinking it over, then answered, "okay." She shut the door, leaving him wondering if he'd done something wrong, then reappeared a few minutes later. "I'm ready when you are," she said.

"Okay. Yeah." He grinned. He offered to take her to get tea, and she obliged him. They seemed to get along just as well as they had. A few embarrassing memories flash-bulbed in his brain and he quickly shunted them to the back of his mind. On their way from breakfast, he brought her through the shopping district, singing an internal mantra to not repeat the same mistakes.

"So…is there anywhere you'd like to go?"

Temari shook her head. "I'll leave it up to you."

Shikamaru sighed internally. That was the worst thing she could have said. His eyes flicked from one attraction to the next, which of them, he wondered, would be good enough. In his periphery, however, he spotted what could be an opportunity.

"Hey, Kiba, I haven't seen you around in a while."

The shaggy-haired ninja tossed a look over his shoulder, and he waved. "Shikamaru! Yeah, it's been a while. I hear you've been glued to your desk for months."

"Well, it's been pretty busy trying to patch things up after the war," he supplied.

Kiba nodded, "Yeah, we've all been busy." Truthfully, though, the dog trainer had been taking it much easier than some of his friends. Ever since he met his girl, he had spent almost all his months with her, showing her his hometown, boasting about becoming Hokage. "Hey, Temari. I didn't know you were here."

The Sand shinobi waved briefly at him. "I'm here with Kankuro. He's working with Shikamaru on something important."

"Huh…something important that involves you two being out on the town?" Kiba grinned suggestively.

Shikamaru blushed. "I managed to get a day off." Only partially bluffing, he somewhat regretted leaving so much work on Kankuro's shoulders so suddenly. The man had been in the village barely a day and already he was taking over work that should have been split between the two of them.

Kiba nodded with a brow raised. He heard someone behind him and turned around, starry-eyed, to greet the girl that had joined them. "Ah, hey!"

She smiled graciously at him. "I'm back. Who's this?" She asked, taking note of the two that had joined Kiba.

"Shikamaru, who I know you've met, but he's been so busy lately I'm not surprised if you've forgotten him. And this is Temari," he offered smugly. "Shikamaru's…."

The Hokage's aid stuttered, and chose to save face rather than be annoyed at Kiba for his snide remark. "A-ah, she's visiting from the Sand."

Nice save, Kiba thought. "This is Tamaki."

The lean, long-haired girl bowed politely. "It's nice to meet you." The paper bag she was carrying rustled, and a ninja cat poked out its fluffy head.

"Nya…the boy's pheromones are off the charts," it meowed snootily.

Shikamaru fully blushed, regretting his decision to take the day off. Temari seemed to share in his embarrassment, at least.

Kiba howled with mirth, wishing he had been the one to point it out. "'Boy'!"

Tamaki, however, sympathized with the couple's emotion and buried the little ninja cat back in its hiding spot.

"I'm sorry! He's very straightforward. And decades old; he treats everyone like a kid, even me!" And then, noticing its activity within the bag, she scolded the unruly feline. "No! Those treats are for Akamaru!"

Kiba let Tamaki handle the ninja cat, having learned that the animals were more trouble than they were worth. "Well, we should probably get going."

"Ah, you're busy today."

Kiba looked at him. "Were you hoping to hang out?"

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous fashion. "Well, it's just that I thought it might be…nice to spend some time as a group." His search for words came up slightly short of a decent explanation.

Kiba, however, having spent more of his youth dealing in relationships, understood what the other meant. "Ahh, you mean like a double-date?"

Befrore Shikamaru could object, Kiba's significant other jumped in. "A double-date? I haven't been on one of those before! We can go, right?"

Kiba scratched at his scruffy jaw. "Hmm. Yeah, I think so. There's one more thing I need to do back home, but after that we can go."

Tamaki smiled genuinely. "Alright! It sounds like fun!"

Despite his initial reservations about this course of action, Shikamaru was relieved that it had turned out well.

A few hours into the early afternoon and finally Kankuro felt confident enough to step away from his work for a minute. The case wasn't near complete, but he had made some headway. Shikamaru's kouhai returned, having successfully sent his message, too. This was enough to grant him some ease of mind, and he stepped outside onto a balcony for a break.

He wondered how Shikamaru was holding up. If he didn't see any wayward tornadoes for the rest of the day, he would assume the date went well.

The door creaked open behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder at the so-named Hero of the Leaf.

"Step out for a break?"

"Ah, yep."

Kankuro sensed it, and said, "You're a clone?"

The shadow clone nodded. "I try to visit Hinata once a day like this, so she won't get mad that I'm working all the time," he admitted.

"That's nice," Kankuro said. "She's a lucky woman."

Naruto, despite his worldly standing as a shinobi hero, having brought peace to the five nations and countless more, brandished such a childlike grin as if to make up for all the lights in the world going out. "You think so?"

Kankuro smiled genuinely. "Yeah."

Naruto's clone nodded, and jumped swiftly from the balcony, from roof to roof, effortlessly following the straightest path to his home. Kankuro rubbed a knuckle against his cheek, feeling a mid-afternoon bout of sleepiness coming on. It was normally about this time that he would have some free time for lunch, although he usually spent it with Gaara.

A screech brought his attention skywards. A painted bird approached him, and Kankuro removed from his pocket a scroll for it to land. Its inky message sprawled out onto the page, and he checked it thoroughly. Despite the Kazekage's insistence on having Kankuro work with the Hokage's aid in person, his brother found it necessary to share some details of the assignment with him. He'd made sure that Sai left out any revealing information, and the bird withdrew from its place on the scroll, beginning its journey to the Land of Wind.

Kankuro briefly wondered how much longer he could be away from Gaara's side. It was nothing he could debate now. He went back inside to finish his work.

At sunset, the summer cicadas sounded loudest. They flooded the airwaves, making the walk home anything but lonely. Despite all his reservations, his shortcomings, and his mistakes, Shikamaru felt he was finally on good footing. In a few short weeks, he too would share a sacred bond with someone.

He was grateful to Kankuro. They never spoke much, except when it came to work, and even then the two lived in faraway villages. This was the most time they had spent together so far. He would thank the Sand ninja before he left, if he remembered it.

Shikamaru paced slowly up the stairs to his office, having wandered past his turn home and figuring that picking up on a little late-night work wouldn't be too bad. After all, he had left Kankuro alone all day. He passed his kouhai in the hall, thanked him for his diligence and received his updates. Then he entered the office.

"Oh, you're still here."

Kankuro chewed the nail of his thumb, crouched down in front of the bookcase. "Yeah. I've been working on the cases."

Shikamaru closed the door behind him and observed the stacks of paper on his desk. "I wanted to apologize for leaving you alone the whole day. I know you told me to spend it with Temari, but I ended up thinking it was rude to shove all my work on you at a time like this."

"You don't have to apologize." He picked up a book and flicked through it. "We both agreed you should have at least one day off. And at any rate, I was able to get some work done. Your kouhai does a pretty good job."

Shikamaru glanced up at his coworker leafing through reference books. "Ah…yeah, I suppose he does sometimes."

"That's harsh," Kankuro said impassively. "He helped me get ahead in the case, not to mention he took over most of your work too."

"Really?" A surprised Shikamaru picked up the leading page of a case file and looked it over for new information. He understood he didn't give the kid nearly enough credit, but that was just his nature. He faced his work head-on to the best of his abilities, and it took time to win his trust with things like these. But Kankuro was right.

"What did you find out?"

"Well, I sent a message back to Gaara. Nothing revealing, I just wanted his opinion. And honestly, I wondered if I should be spending so much time on an assignment like this, while I'm away from the Sand. Gaara can handle himself as Kazekage, but as his advisor, I like to be there for him." Kankuro stood and brought the book in his grasp to Shikamaru's attention. "There's some references in here I think might be useful. I had your subordinate run them through the system too, so we should know by tomorrow whether or not we can use this information."

Shikamaru commended his coworker. "That's a pretty good deduction. I'm glad you made headway. Tomorrow we can cover even more ground."

Kankuro nodded. "I also had Sai send word to someone else who I think will be able to provide for us via field work. With the Hokage's permission, of course."

"Who?"

"How long has he been out of the village now? Almost a year? That's a long time to spend alone," Kankuro began. "But it's plenty of time to get to know what's going on outside the Leaf."

Shikamaru narrowed his gaze, deducing who Kankuro was so evasively mentioning. "You're talking about Sasuke, aren't you?"

The Sand shinobi nodded. "I figure that, since most of the contacts in this book are outside of the village, and since he's been getting so well-acquainted with that part of the world, then who better to ask?"

Shikamaru agreed, "It's not likely he'll be able to return to the village any time soon, but it makes sense. And it's not like, with all the patchwork we're doing right now, any shinobi can just up and leave. I think you're headed in the right direction."

They discussed it a bit further, and agreed to save the bulk of the investigation for tomorrow. And anyway, Kankuro was giddy to know how Shikamaru's date went. Now look at him. Who was the eager teenager again?

"You should stay at my place."

"Should I?" Kankuro asked brusquely.

Shikamaru furrowed a brow. "Well, you don't have to. I just figured it would be cheaper than staying in a hotel. And anyway, since my old man passed, it's been kind of quiet."

"Oh," Kankuro said. "Yeah, I suppose. Thanks."

The Leaf shinobi stopped by a late-night grocer while his counterpart from the Sand picked up his things from the hotel. Kankuro met him later, well past nightfall, and was invited into the spacious home and offered a cup of tea.

"It's pretty big."

"It used to be my family's place, but Mom's moved out since Dad died, so now I have it pretty much to myself."

"That gets lonely, huh?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I've gotten used to it. We've all lost people."

"That's a pretty nonchalant way of putting it, yeah. Everyone's lost someone." He blew on his steaming tea, appreciating the welcoming, if lonesome, household. "But don't you think that as we get older, we grow closer to those who are left?"

Shikamaru observed his guest from across the table. "You're right, I think." He thought about Naruto and Kiba, and Shino whom he sometimes visited at the Academy. He thought about Neji too. And he thought about Temari.

"Hey…how'd it go?"

Shikamaru's eyes shot up at his guest. Kankuro's knowing look suggested that Shikamaru had been thinking through his cheeks again. He cleared his throat. "I think it went well. I didn't do anything stupid."

Kankuro grinned. "That's good."

Shikamaru rested an elbow on the table as his other hand found its way to the back of his neck again. "She said she's looking forward to the wedding."

"Really? She should. You both should be, actually."

"Yeah. I am," Shikamaru smiled.

Kankuro whistled low. "It's only been two days. You move faster than I thought. I wonder what I'll say to Gaara if you marry within the week and she doesn't come back?"

Shikamaru's face grew darker again. To ease the tension, he got up and refilled the tea pot. Even with his back to Kankuro, he felt those narrow irises boring into him. "We'll have the wedding here, but we've barely even planned it yet. I doubt Gaara would miss anything."

"You know…this feels a little backwards," Kankuro said as he accepted the refilled cup. "Why am I the one staying at your place? Shouldn't it be her?"

The Leaf shinobi blinked a few times. "I suppose that's the normal thing to do. But I didn't want to intrude after she's already staying at the hotel. And anyway, we'll be busy planning the wedding soon."

"And yet, you invited me over so casually," Kankuro said amusedly. "But I suppose you're right. You two will soon be in each other's hair so much you'll wish for days like these again."

A few moments of silence passed between the two as they drank tea. Then Shikamaru buried his chin in the palm of a hand. The tension in his eyes revealed as much to Kankuro as he needed to know.

"Do you even know what to do once she's here?"

Shikamaru's shoulders jumped. He awkwardly asked, "Should you really be asking me that? She is your sister."

A moment went by, and Kankuro's hands snapped up, palms open. "Whoa, whoa, I know that! I'm asking as a friend here! Shit, I know she's my sister and all but she's a grown woman; she can do what she wants. And anyway I haven't had a say in her life for years. I'm just asking this as a man who's concerned for your safety," he said. "And his own."

"What does my safety have to do with- oh. Ah, jeez. If that happened again you'd know about it. Believe me." Shikamaru buried his eyes in his palms, bemoaning his inexperience.

"H-hey, we've all suffered a woman's wrath once or twice. Trust me, as her brother, I've experienced it plenty. It's not a big deal. I take it back; you'll be fine. She likes you too much to cause you any serious harm."

"Serious harm…." Even more than his inexperience, Shikamaru bemoaned the fact that he was dealing with this at all. Didn't he swear off women when he was still a kid? What happened to his common sense?

"Look…I know it may be weird coming from me. But I can always show you what to do."

"That doesn't exactly sound comforting, especially coming from you," Shikamaru said bluntly.

"What happened to taking my advice?" Kankuro chided coolly.

"Well, no offense, but you're a guy."

Kankuro quirked a brow. "What does that have to do with anything?" He sat back and planted his hands on his outspread knees in a determined fashion. "Listen, what happens between you and her is between you and her, but the least I can do is make sure you don't embarrass yourself. Not that I think she'll be swayed, but this is from one guy to another."

Shikamaru sweated over it, and swallowed around the lump in his throat. "What exactly does that mean? I know I may not be as experienced as you, but I'm not exactly in the dark here either."

Kankuro snorted playfully. "Could have fooled me." Man, giving advice to Shikamaru…on how to romance his sister. Hell, he was going to think back on this and question every moment of it. He revealed none of this to his host, however, simply puffing on and drinking the tea in front of him. It was too easy an escape from the conversation, and Shikamaru took advantage of it as well, trying to hide his expression behind the cup.

"Suppose…" he mumbled, "suppose I take you up on your offer. What does it entail?"

Kankuro set his cup down, and folded his arms across his chest. "Well, there's the matter of the atmosphere." At the look of inquiry on his host's face, he elaborated. "In order to avoid the wrath of a woman, you have to get the details right. Somehow you managed to do that today, so it shouldn't be too hard for you to do it again."

"Actually, I had some help from Kiba and his girlfriend. We ended up on a double-date, so I had him to go off of. His girlfriend was actually the bigger help. I had no idea she was so into wedding-planning."

"Most girls are. So you learn from experience?"

Shikamaru lifted a shoulder, absent-mindedly sliding his cup from one hand to another across the table. "I learn pretty fast. It's the one thing I'm good at. The advice you gave me last night helped, and having Tamaki there meant that I didn't have to take any risks with Temari."

Kankuro nodded, painted chin in-hand. "I see." He glanced over the room around him. "It's not a bad place you've got here. Spacious. Perfect for a honeymoon, actually. If you light some candles it could really be nice."

"Candles."

"Hey, you want to impress, don't you? I told you she likes this kind of romantic stuff, and I just happen to be an expert on the subject."

"The subject of romance," Shikamaru restated.

"Exactly. See, I'm a romatic at heart."

"I know. I didn't have you pegged as that type."

Kankuro replied, "Not a lot of people ask me for my opinion on these things, so it usually goes unshared. Now…you want to make her feel totally welcome here. And that's not just for her, it's for you too."

"Right. Because if I get anything wrong, it'll ruin our relationship," Shikamaru sighed.

"Or you. But that's a given."

Shikamaru rubbed his thumb across a sore spot on his temple. This was more work than the missing shinobi cases. At Kankuro's voice, he looked down. "My clothes?"

"Yeah. It should be obvious, but whatever you wear under your suit's gotta be easy to take off, right?"

"Ah, uh," Shikamaru stuttered, red-faced once again.

"Mhm. Are you this eloquent with her too, or do I just make you nervous?"

Shikamaru rubbed his teeth together. "I think it's just the subject."

"Well, if you managed to get this far, I don't think it'll be a problem now. That about covers it anyway. Assuming you know the rest."

Shikamaru said through the fingers hovering over his mouth, ready at a moment to cover his blushes. "Yeah, I know the rest."

"Good. I mean, I guess I could go into more detail, but if you think you've got it…."

Shikamaru waved his free hand through the air, trying to clear the subject. "Yeah, yeah. You're really experienced, I get it."

Kankuro smirked. He leaned across the table in a confiding fashion, whispering, "I haven't told you the most important part."

Shikamaru hesitated before asking, "Most important?"

Kankuro nodded knowingly, saying, "The most important part of any relationship."

"Yeah..?"

He cupped his hands around his mouth, elbows on the table, as if revealing a secret in an overcrowded room, and said, with a wink, "Love."

A few cicadas hummed outside. A branch knocked against the wall. Shikamaru stared.

"I'm beginning to doubt your expertise," he said.

Kankuro just nodded confidently. "I said the same thing about Naruto's and Hinata's wedding."

"Are you trying to take credit for their happiness?" Shikamaru questioned.

"I wouldn't call it that! But we Sand did get them a pretty nice gift."

Shikamaru chuckled under his breath. At the very least – even if following his advice garnered no success – Kankuro's company was nice. He offered the man his spare bedroom, and upon retiring to his own room, found himself restless and wanting to stare at the sky. He slid the doors open to a back yard, and sat one end of the empty Shogi board. Despite the cloudless night, he found calm in imagining where those clouds would be tomorrow.

One by one, Shikamaru placed pieces on the board in an empty pursuit. He'd done this too many time to count since the house became his alone. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He had friends in this village, and in others. He and Kankuro had grown closer, and, at least he felt it, there was someone else waiting for him not too far away either.

He left the pieces as they were on the board and went to bed, certain they'd meet their eternal match soon.


End file.
